Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2020 / ii / Paper 1 / 33C / b / iv

Given a solution $u(t)$, construct $a_j(t)=\frac{1}{2}{e}^{u_j(t)/2}$ and hence the smooth matrices $L(t)$ and $B(t)$. Let $U(t)$ solve the linear ordinary differential equationBecause $B(t)$ is skew-symmetric,so $U(t)$ is an orthogonal matrix and is invertible. Moreover,It follows thatThus the Lax pair flow is an Isospectral Lax equation: every $L(t)$ is similar to $L(0)$ and has the same eigenvalues and characteristic polynomial.

Every symmetric function of these constant eigenvalues is a first integral. In particular, the trace invariants of a Lax equationare constant because the cyclic property of the trace givesFor example,is an explicit first integral of equation $(†)$.